"I have 90 something wins" - Alexei Popyrin jokes about Jannik Sinner's impressive 2024 season after Australian Open charity match

After Jannik Sinner's victory over local man Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday at Melbourne's Rod Laver arena, the two players joked about the weather and Popyrin made a funny comment on Sinner's record-breaking 73 wins throughout the 2024 season. The World No. 1 emerged as a convincing 6-4, 7-6 winner over Popyrin in the match.

Jannik Sinner generated nine break points along the way compared to Popyrin's one. The Australian, ranked 25th in the ATP rankings, put up a decent showing but was ultimately out-muscled by the impressive Italian. After the match, the pair shared some good-natured humor with the fans.

Popyrin was asked about his own "amazing" 2024 season during which he won the Canadian Open in Montreal, defeating Andrey Rublev in the final - his first Masters 1000 title. That achievement sees him seeded at the upcoming Australian Open, his home major.

Popyrin was keen to acknowledge Sinner's own remarkable 73 victory year in 2024, saying:

“To put things in perspective, I have 90 something wins in my whole career. That was obviously one of the best seasons ever.”

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Jannik Sinner comments on the "different" Australian weather conditions

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Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner marches on to the Australian Open in good spirits. He plays Stefanos Tsitsipas in another charity match on Friday but has embraced the markedly different conditions in Australia after having spent Christmas at home in Italy. When asked if the heat had come as a bit of a shock, Sinner said:

“I was in the snow for Christmas. Then I came here. The first day was 40 degrees. It was a bit different.”

Jannik Sinner has fond memories of the Australian Open, having won the title in 2024 after a hard-fought five-setter with Daniil Medvedev, which brought him his first Major. He went on to take the US Open in a far more straightforward affair against Taylor Fritz and approaches 2025 with a stellar 2024 behind him.

Sinner ended 2024 by equalling Roger Federer's record of never losing a match in straight sets across an entire season, but most impressively by registering 73 victories in the year, against a mere six losses. That represented the most season-wins by any player, male or female, since Andy Murray in 2016.

Furthermore, Sinner became only the fifth male player since 2000 to post more than 70 wins against fewer than 10 losses - the others being Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.